Delightful Visionary Art in Charleston

I met Missionary Mary Proctor,
visionary artist, at the Folk Art Festival in Atlanta last year. Like
many Visionary artists, she shares a clear message through her life and
art. She freely spoke about her art and the powerful message behind it.
“God gives me the message and I paint it. I paint on anything I can
find. Paper, wood, tin. I’ve been through adversity. While grieving for
her beloved grandmother and other close relatives who died in a house
fire in 1995, the Lord told Mary to “paint the door” and that she did!
She is a warm, engaging person who is truly living to do “God’s Work”
through her art.

I bought a fish cut out of a piece of tin and painted. On it, she
painted the words “Keep Swimming.” “Life is tough and you’re gonna
experience hardships and setbacks. But just keep on swimming. Swim
through those times. It gets better.”

We like the word Visionary, because we feel the
artists we work with know where they are going, even if we may not
understand it. They are not lacking for ideas or a message. These are
people who have a compulsion to make art, sometimes without knowing why,
and often after a life-changing experience. They just start creating.
(from Artistic Spirit Gallery website)

Outsider Art, Folk Art, Visionary Art. Whatever you call it, it’s art
produced by folks with a big vision and little or no formal art
training. It’s spontaneous art without boundaries or constraint. It’s at
once fun and whimsical and scary or utterly shocking. Always real and
delightful for its truth.